Invasion

Rating:
Summary: Another epic that stops short
Review: Having read all of Harry's books I found he is a master of techno-thriller but stops short of resoloution. As a writing style this is fine, but this time he stopped about half way, (with no indication of sequel).

One buys a techno for escapism, so I won't comment on inplausibilities, it is not the point of reading his books.

If young Eric reads Amazon.com reviews, please give your loyal readers an indication of what is next (PS, what happened to Australia, we get your books here as well).

[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Great book....if you like totally implausible scenarios
Review: I actually greatly enjoyed reading this book, but where most books in this category have at least some factual basis, Invasion absolutely none. It is simply impossible for China to become as powerful as the book portrays it becoming. Some of the glaring problems I had with the book are as follows:

- China invades India..Why? They have virtually no industrial base, few raw materials, and virtually no food for export. Plus they would have to attack over the Himalayas, a logistic impossibility (one of many in the book).

- The Chinese Navy....I understand that in the book Korea was invaded and their shipyards were used to make the 500,000-ton super-carriers and super-transports, but how could they possibly build so many? The book talks about landing 700,000 troops a week in America. It is at least a month trip for a transport to travel from China to the American Gulf coast. Even if 20,000 troops were on each transport, calculating travel times, at least 300 half-million-ton transports, not to mention escorting carriers and warships would be needed to support this. And this is at a time when Europe is being blockaded and our West Coast is being invaded, and American submarines are sinking 1,000,000 tons of Chinese shipping a day in the Pacific! Add up the numbers and there is no way China could produce enough steel to do all of the above even if they could somehow get the raw materials from the West to do so.

Also the book talks about a Chinese Army of 60 million. How do they feed these guys? All of the food exporters of the world (US, Australia, Canada, etc.) would not be supplying them with food (to say nothing about iron ore and other materials). China can barely feed themselves now. How could they do so with 50 million more of their farmers in uniform?

A good deal of the American Navy was slaughtered when a wolfpack of 100 Chinese diesel submarines ambushed them in the Florida Staight. Does anyone really think that a huge American fleet could possibly sail blindly into that many submarines(or even one?), especially since diesel subs have to rise to snorkle depth every day or so to replenish their air? Come on, Eric, you can do better than that.

- The president got a call in the White House saying that a giant Chinese fleet just landed huge numbers of troops in San Diego. How can a fleet with a million men just sail up to America's biggest Pacific Navy base and just unload an invasion army without being noticed beforehand? Give me a break!

I understand that the book takes place 10 years or so in the future, but it must be kept in mind that China basically imports all of their warships at this time, and doesn't even manufacture a first-line fighter aircraft. Also, China is a very poor country on a per-capita basis and would get much poorer after they began invading their neighbors and America stopped buying toys from them. They simply would not have the capacity from a manufacturing, food producing or technological standpoint to do most of the things attributed to them in the book.

However.....I'm looking forward to the sequel. The book kept my attention, and the battle descriptions were first-rate. If you don't mind pure fantasy as opposed to plausiblity, then Invasion is a book for you.

Albert

Rating:
Summary: what happens to the ending?
Review: This book is really disappointing. The ending is so abrupt it begs for a second half. The character development is too lengthy, with not enough focus on the battle scenes. In his previous books, which I enjoyed immensely, Eric L. Harry devoted equal attention to the "grunts" in battle, the ones we really cared about. In this book, I couldn't care less about the Chinese, their politics, or the president and his scandals. The ending, once again (it bugs me! :-)) is so forced. The repriation to the rebellous factions is so swift and has a brushed over feel to it. And what should be a whole half of the book, was half a page long. Unless Eric L. Harry comes out with a follow on book that blows my mind, I will start questioning his writing skills.

Rating:
Summary: Invasion Begs A Sequel
Review: Invasion was one of the best and scariest books I have read in a long time. As a father of a six year old daughter I have wondered if all those made in China dolls and games I buy her are partially financing a future enemy that her generation will be forced to fight. As a ex infantryman I found myself not wanting to put the book down and on occasion getting teary eyed reading some of the more hard hitting parts, such as the little horribly injured girl that Lt. Wu is forced to see put out of her misery after an attack. This book begs a sequel of one or two books since I want to see the final outcome and the removal of the invader from US soil. I went out and bought Arc Light and Protect and Defend because of this book. Yes, some weapons are taken liberty with but this is the future so I overlooked it as a possible weapons upgrade. The sequels could give more of the overall feel for the war since many of the main characters are now fleshed out. In summation, Great Book.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to Harry's standards
Review: This was the second Harry book I read. Since I read it, I've gone back to reread his other works, and I can confidently say that Invasion is his weakest book.

The characters are poorly realized and difficult to believe; the battle action is incredibly repetitive, and the whole premise is suspect. I was really disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Great Military TechnoThriller
Review: Tom Clancy writes military technothrillers set in the immediate future. Eric L. Harry writes five to fifteen years in the future. Starting with Arc Light, then with Protect and Defend, and now with "Invasion", Mr. Harry writes a fast-paced thriller of what could happen when a hungry China decides to dominate the world and finally ends up on America's doorstep.

"Invasion" follows the president, an ex-actor who used to fight aliens in "B" movies, as he fights the political battles in Washington D.C with the many strongly differing opinions on how to fight the war. His daughter (a grunt in the military since the draft does not differentiate between the sexes ) fights the Chinese from the start of their invasion in Alabama to its final conclusion.

The Chinese have their own political infighting but after conquering most of the world start off with battle-hardened veterans and a seemingly unlimited supply of replacements. They also have a surprise attack which throws Washington's plans for defense into disarray..

Nobody writes infantry battles with the realism of Mr. Harry. Your five senses experience the battles as the new recruits, or "Cherries", are thrust to the front. Survivors rapidly become battle hardened warriors. One criticism-"Invasion" rapidly becomes a two-front war, but then one front is dropped. Since "Invasion" ends at a place that is more a beginning than an ending, this could be corrected in the sequel.

If you enjoy military technothrillers buy this book for a great read.

Rating:
Summary: ERIC HARRY HAS DONE IT AGAIN....ALMOST.
Review: Eric Harry has done it again! He has written another solid book on a hypothetical war. I have been looking forward to Invasion for quite some time and it was a generally good read. There were some things that I didn't like about this book that other reviewers have pointed out too. I don't see China enjoying this kind of success for another 20-25 years. The massive supercarriers and transports proves that point. I was a little surprised that China was not bled white from all of its military campaigns in SE Asia, India, Israel, etc. Even with Pakistan's all-out support, I still think the Indians would have inflicted more than the 500,000 Chinese casualties that they suffered in this book. The character development could have been toned doen a bit, in favor of better descriptions of the massive battles involving millions of troops. I also would have liked a better description of the West Coast battles. But I complain too much. This is still a solid military fiction book. Highly reccomended!

Rating:
Summary: DRAGON on to conquer the patriotic EAGLE
Review: To think of a war happening in a U.S. soil is definitely scary as hell. A mighty Dragon fighting against the patriotic Eagle. This truly is one of the best book I've read about the possibility of war happening IN the United States. Just even thinking that this might happen will SCARE THE HELL out of you. Chinese landing troops in the Gulf and fighting their ways on suburbs to Washington, DC is truly unbelievable. They have millions of troops but we have superior technology which they want to acquire. The super carriers, arsenal ships and the Fighting Falcon are just a few of incredibly cool equipment both side have. Plus the book tells the story of women in combat which is really rare this days. Special Forces too.

Rating:
Summary: What was the point of this book?
Review: How can anyone give this book anything but two thumbs down. I was so disappointed in this book. After reading both Arclight and Protect and Defend, I had high hopes for this book. No such luck. Please don't waste the money on this travesty. Spend a little extra time doing research on military hardware also Harry. Never knew the M-249 SAW fired 40mm grenades. What a joke.

Rating:
Summary: Hoping for a Sequel
Review: Best book I've read in a long time. Not since "Red Storm Rising" have I spent almost an entire weekend reading. The premise is plausible as well as scary. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat right up until the end. A great read!